Tag Archives: A330

QANTAS Airways (Sydney) added a significant expansion of its presence in Japan with the launch of double daily services between Australia and Tokyo this weekend.

QANTAS flight QF25 departed from Sydney to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on July 31, followed by the departure of QF61 from Brisbane to Narita Airport yesterday (August 1).

QANTAS’ Brisbane-Narita launch flights will be operated by the airline’s refurbished Airbus A330 aircraft, with lie-flat seats in Business, brand new Economy seats and new inflight entertainment.

The refit of these aircraft, which takes one month each, is being done at QANTAS’ heavy maintenance facility in Brisbane. These aircraft are being introduced progressively onto Asian routes.

To celebrate the launch of the new Japan services, customers onboard flights departing to Narita and Haneda and in Qantas International Lounges in Sydney and Brisbane will be treated to Japanese-inspired menus for the first week of August, including Tuna Tataki Nigiri in Business, and Green Tea flavoured Kit Kats in Premium Economy and Economy.

The launch of double daily QANTAS flights to Tokyo follows Jetstar’s introduction of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the Melbourne-Narita route earlier this month, increasing the available seats between the two cities by 20 per cent over the next year. The upgrade from Airbus A330 aircraft to the higher capacity Boeing 787 will be complemented by an increase in flights from four to six per week December to March to meet growing demand for flights between Melbourne and Japan in the peak season.

Hong Kong Airlines (Hong Kong) will launch its first thrice-weekly service to Australia next year, commencing on January 8, 2016. The new service is a triangular service starting from Hong Kong to the Gold Coast, and then continuing to Cairns enroute back to Hong Kong.

Airbus A330-300 aircraft with 292 seats including 32 business class seats will be deployed on the route, operating on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Air Transat (Montreal) has announced it fly from Toronto (Pearson) to Paris this winter thanks to the addition of new connecting flights to Montreal.

The airline continued:

Air Transat will also be offering a new Montreal – Toronto route allowing passengers to leave from Montreal and board Toronto flights for London, Manchester or Glasgow as well as a new Calgary – Vancouver route allowing passengers to leave from Calgary and board a Vancouver – London flight.

The new flights between Toronto and Paris and Montreal and the United Kingdom (London , Manchester and Glasgow ) will operate from Sunday to Thursday inclusively effective in November 2015.

Connecting flights will also be offered for Malaga, Spain for passengers travelling from Toronto to Montreal effective January 2016 and for three destinations in Portugal ( Lisbon and Porto as of November 2015 and Faro as of January 2016 ) for passengers travelling from Montreal to Toronto , all destinations renowned for vacations under the sun.

Air Transat will also be offering a new Calgary – Vancouver route this winter effective December 2015 allowing passengers to leave from Calgary and board a Vancouver – London flight on Mondays.

Travellers who want to enjoy the Air Transat experience when flying domestically will also be able to take advantage of the new flights between Toronto and Montreal and Calgary and Vancouver which run during peak business travel hours.

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc, (Hawaiian Airlines) (Honolulu) has reported the financial results of its second quarter:

GAAP net income of $48.8 million or $0.79 per diluted share.

Adjusted net income, reflecting economic fuel expense and excluding loss on extinguishment of debt, of $37.5 million or $0.61 per diluted share, an increase of $15.1 million or $0.26 cents per diluted share year-over-year.

Adjusted pre-tax margin of 10.7% compared to 6.4% in the prior year period.

“We are pleased with the results for the quarter,” said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian Airlines president and chief executive officer. “Strong demand across our network, coupled with low fuel prices, more than compensated for the adverse impacts of the strengthening US dollar, the significant reduction in most fuel surcharges and the high levels of industry capacity growth from North America. Our financial performance for the second half of the year seems set to be a continuation of what we’ve seen so far in 2015. In this environment, the company expects to generate free cash flow, strengthen its balance sheet and improve its profit margins. As ever, the whole team has done a great job of looking after our customers, enhancing our reputation, and burnishing our brand. They have my thanks.”

Statistical data, as well as a reconciliation of the reported non-GAAP financial measures, can be found in the accompanying tables.

Outstanding debt and capital lease obligations of approximately $947 million consisting of the following:

$689 million outstanding under secured loan agreements to finance a portion of the purchase price for 11 Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

$127 million outstanding under secured loan agreements to finance a portion of the purchase price for 15 Boeing 717-200 aircraft.

$100 million in capital lease obligations to finance the acquisition of an Airbus A330-200, two Boeing 717-200 aircraft and aircraft-related equipment.

$27 million outstanding under floating rate notes to finance the acquisition of two Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft.

$4 million of outstanding convertible senior notes.

In the second quarter, the Company repurchased $4 million (principal balance) of its convertible senior notes outstanding. Repurchases to date have totaled $82 million (principal balance) or 95%, of the originally issued principal amount, thereby eliminating the need for the Company to issue 10.4 million shares when the notes may have otherwise converted to common stock.

In addition, during the second quarter the Company repurchased 0.8 million shares of its common stock for approximately $18 million under its previously announced $100 million stock repurchase program.

Second Quarter 2015 Highlights

Operational

Ranked #1 nationally for on-time performance for the months of March, April and May 2015.

Ranked as one of the top domestic airlines by Travel + Leisure for 2015.

Product and loyalty

The comprehensive interior retrofit of the Company’s neighbor island fleet remains on schedule for completion in the fourth quarter of 2015 with 12 of 18 Boeing 717 aircraft completed to date.

Fleet and financing

Added an A330-200 aircraft under lease financing and retired a Boeing 767-300 at the end of its lease.

Updated the fleet plan and entered into a six-year lease agreement for one A330-200 with a delivery date of summer 2016 and accelerated the planned retirement date of certain of its Boeing 767-300 aircraft.

Announced the purchase of three ATR 72 turbo-prop aircraft in an all-cargo configuration for expansion of its cargo service.

Jetstar Airways (Melbourne) is planning to phase out and retire the last Airbus A330-200 in September. According to Airline Rouge, currently (subject to change) the last scheduled international route with the A330 will be on September 24 between Honolulu and Brisbane (arriving on September 25) as flight JQ 006. There are no scheduled A330 flights after this date.

The Airbus A330-200s have been replaced with newer Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Airbus has achieved EASA certification of its innovative Runway Overrun Prevention System (ROPS) technology on A330 Family aircraft. This on-board cockpit technology, which Airbus has pioneered over several years, is now certified and available on all Airbus Families. ROPS is an alerting system which reduces exposure to runway overrun risk, and if necessary, provides active protection.

Korean Air will become the first A330 operator to implement ROPS on its A330s in service in the coming months.

This EASA certification of ROPS on the A330 marks a key milestone in making ROPS available for line-fit and retrofit to all Airbus models. ROPS was first approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on the A380 in October 2009 and to date is currently in service or ordered on most of the A380 fleet. ROPS is also part of the A350 XWB’s basic configuration, and in August 2013 was also certified for the A320 Family.

“Already in service on the A380, A350 and A320 Families, ROPS is the result of years of continuing research by Airbus,” said Didier Lux, Airbus’ SVP Head of Customer Services. He adds: “This EASA certification for ROPS on the A330 Family is an example where innovative technology and services meet for the benefit of operators and aviation safety, and is thus an important step to offering the enhanced operational benefits across all our aircraft.”

Runway excursion – meaning either an aircraft veering off the side of the runway, or overrunning at the very end – remains the primary cause of civil airliner hull losses, particularly as other formerly prevalent categories of aircraft accidents have now largely been eliminated. Furthermore, various industry bodies including the EASA, NTSB, Eurocontrol and FAA recognize this and are fully behind the introduction of effective measures by commercial aviation stakeholders to eliminate the risk of runway excursions.

Turkish Airlines (Istanbul) has announced it will extend the current Istanbul (Ataturk) – Johannesburg route to Durban this fall. Durban will become the third destination for the carrier in South Africa.

Turkish currently has the fourth largest flight network with 276 destinations in 110 countries.

In other news, the carrier started daily service to Dammam flights from/to Istanbul (Sabiha Gökçen International Airport). Damman becomes the 22nd destination from the secondary airport of Istanbul.

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